King & Lionheart
by Lilja Rainheart
Summary: A fill for Sansaery's prompt: "Fíli is having his first swordfight lesson with Dwalin, whereas Kíli is not allowed to participate. That doesn't stop him from secretly watching the two during their training. In the evening, Fíli returns home with scratches, sore muscles and bad bruises. It's Kíli's job to lighten his brother's mood again."


**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Hobbit or any of the characters. Nor do I own the song mentioned.  
**Comments:** I'm not sure if I got the idea of the prompt right… mainly because it was an idea that I had first and then I worked on it to make it fit the prompt. The title comes from the song King & Lionheart by Of Monsters And Men and I found it and the very fitting lyrics by pure coincidence.

* * *

**King & Lionheart**

It was a sunny morning in the Blue Mountains and it was going to be an important day. For Fíli at least because he was going to have his first sword fighting lesson with Dwalin today. Thorin had decided the day before that his older nephew was now old enough to handle a real sword and begin training in earnest.

But although Fíli was rather excited about the whole ordeal he kept quiet during breakfast. Kíli hadn't said a word about the matter… but Fíli knew his younger brother was disappointed that he wasn't allowed to join. It was clear in the way that Kíli had barely spoken to anyone since after Thorin had talked to them the day before.

"Are you mad?" Fíli asked his brother quietly. "No…" Kíli mumbled although it was blatantly obvious that he was. Not at Fíli, though, it wasn't him who had decided after all. But naturally, it bugged him, it was a stab at his pride. He wasn't that much younger than Fíli and due to that Kíli thought that Thorin's decision about this had been based on ability and that his uncle thought he wasn't good enough yet. And the worst thing really was that Fíli was allowed something that he wasn't. The brothers did everything together and singling out Fíli like this just wasn't fair.

"You're gonna come and watch, though, right?" Fíli asked around a mouthful of his food. Kíli nodded. "Sure… well, if I'm allowed to do that, at least," the younger brother replied gloomily.

Of course they had both been training before, for years already. When they were still children it had been wooden swords and training had actually been little more than play fighting. Blunt swords, slightly smaller than the real ones, had eventually replaced these toys. They had been training like that for years now and felt it was high time to get to the real deal. They were adolescents by now and to them that was almost as good as being an adult already even if they still had quite a few years until they would come of age.

Although Kíli was mad at Thorin… in a corner of his mind he knew Fíli was better with the sword than he was. A lot better actually. They often fought against each other for practice and Fíli beat him almost every time. And the few times he won he wasn't even sure if his brother hadn't let him win on purpose. This had nothing to do with Fíli being a measly five years older than him. Kíli still had a lot to learn about handling a sword and he knew that it was never going to become his weapon of choice.

Kíli's talent lay elsewhere, he was exceptionally good with bow and arrow. He and Fíli had been given toy bows when they had been kids and to everyone's surprise he had soon been hitting targets spot on and with no difficulty at all. He had gotten a real bow shortly after and was allowed to practice with it and by now there was no one in Ered Luin who could still teach him anything when it came to archery. But Kíli also knew the bow was not a typically dwarvish weapon. There came no prestige with being a good archer in dwarf culture and he was probably still rubbish compared to the Elves who used bows a lot more (but he knew better than to mention Elves around here and especially around his uncle).

After breakfast the brothers made their way towards the training grounds. Dwalin was already waiting by the time they got there. "I'm afraid you have to go home, lad," he addressed Kíli when he saw he had tagged along, "Thorin told me to train with Fíli alone so there are no distractions." "But I'm not going to be a distraction!" Kíli huffed. The older dwarf just shrugged. "I'm not going to get in the way with what your uncle decides for you… so you'd better go."

Kíli looked at Fíli, asking him silently to back him up. "Yeah, you better go then… Thorin will just be mad at you if you disobey," his older brother said, winking at him when Dwalin wasn't looking. Kíli understood what he was saying: Go and find a place from where you can watch secretly.

So Kíli kept the act up and pretended to be disappointed about not being able to watch, kicking at a stone on the path for good measure as he wordlessly turned around and left into the direction they had only just come from. As soon as he knew he was out of sight from where Dwalin and his brother were, he strayed off the path and returned, taking a different route and making sure not to be seen. By the time he got back and found a hiding place from where he had a perfect view without being noticed, Dwalin and Fíli had already begun with their sword fighting lesson.

The longer Kíli watched, the more he became glad that he wasn't training as well today. He knew Dwalin was still going easy on Fíli but it became painfully obvious that Fíli was still young and had yet a lot to learn about sword fighting. Dwalin easily blocked each and any of his blows and in return sent Fíli tumbling onto the ground at least once every few minutes. Fíli was determined, though, and was back on his feet again in an instant every single time, even though he was sure to have bruises and scratches all over by now.

Fíli tried to act upon the instructions Dwalin gave him, what to pay attention to and how to move. But thinking about what to do and dodging blows and wielding his sword at the same time proved to be a difficult task and Dwalin made a point to mention every time that Fíli would have been dead were this a real fight. Kíli stopped counting after that happened for the twentieth time as his brother landed face first in the dirt. He cringed in sympathy, that must have been painful.

At some point Kíli decided it might be clever to leave before Dwalin and Fíli were done and turn up at home earlier than his brother. Anything else would be too suspicious and it was getting late, the sun already low on the horizon. His mother Dís had dinner ready by the time Kíli arrived at their house. "Eat before it gets cold," she told him and gestured to a steaming bowl of stew on the table, "Do you know when your brother will show up?"

Kíli sat down at the table and was about to answer that he didn't know when they heard the door open. But instead of Fíli joining them in the kitchen they heard a second door creak open before it slammed closed. Kíli moved to stand up but his mother stopped him. "Leave him alone for a bit," she said, "First lessons never go well. He's disappointed, I guess." She paused before she added: "You watched them although you weren't supposed to, right?"

Kíli had the decency to avoid his mother's knowing gaze and instead looked down at his bowl of stew. "Sort of…" Instead of chastising him for that, his mother asked: "How bad was it actually?" "Bad…" Kíli replied. "He'll get over it soon. Your brother isn't one to mull about those kind of things for too long. There's work to be done and he's going to do it. But I hope you learnt something when you watched even though you shouldn't have," Dís said sternly.

Kíli knew what she meant. They were young and felt invincible. But they still had a lot to learn, he even more so than Fíli. Kíli knew he overestimated himself sometimes and acted before he thought… but it was not like he did that on purpose. In any case, his mother was probably right. Watching Dwalin and Fíli during their lesson had in some way as much been a lesson to him as to Fíli.

When Kíli joined Fíli in their bedroom a while later, his brother was already in bed, lying on his side and facing away from him. "Mother says there's still food left if you want something. But it's gone cold now," Kíli said, not knowing what else to talk about and trying to avoid the subject of today. "I'm not hungry," Fíli answered.

Kíli proceeded to get ready for bed as well and he was just about to crawl into his own bed when he changed his mind. "Mind if I join you over there?" he asked.

When they had been children they had always slept in the same bed together. Those times were long since gone but sometimes, mainly when one of them was upset about something, they reverted back to old habits and snuggled up in bed together, seeking comfort in each other's presence.

"Do as you wish…" Fíli replied and turned over to lie on his back when Kíli moved across the room and slipped under the covers next to his brother. "You're in an awfully bad mood," Kíli commented as he snuggled against Fíli's side and wrapped an arm around his waist. "You know why, you were there and saw how dreadful I was," Fili stated dryly.

Kíli shook his head. "It was just your first day of training, Fíli. And I don't think you were dreadful." He honestly didn't think he was. "You don't have to sugar coat things," Fíli retorted to which Kíli rolled his eyes in response. "I'm not," he said, "I think you did okay. And I know I would have been frustrated and would have given up after a short time. You didn't give up, though. You kept on trying. I'm sure Mister Dwalin said something similar?"

Fíli sighed. "Yeah, he did… but no one cares about 'trying'… and 'okay' won't do, either." "Oh Fíli… you think too much. You'll get better, I'm sure." Kíli nuzzled his brother's cheek. "But just wait until I join you… because I'm going to kick your ass then," he added in an attempt to lighten the mood. Fíli snorted. "Kíli, I'll kick your skinny ass any time, no matter what."

Kíli chuckled. "We'll see about that. I'm already taller than you…" "Yeah, you point that out every day, _little_ brother. But a few extra inches won't help you there."

They lay in silence for a while until Fíli spoke up again. "I don't think I'll ever live up to Thorin's expectations. I'll never be the heir he wants me to be…" "What?" Kíli frowned. "I've thought about this before… I just feel like I'll never be good enough. Sometimes I even wish you were the older one of us… you're just so much more like Thorin in character than I am," Fíli explained quietly.

"How daft are you actually?" Kíli asked incredulously, "You listen to me now. You're worth no less than I am. There are things about you that make you so much more suitable as Thorin's heir than me. Things that have nothing to do with you being the older one of us. For example that you usually use your brain _before_ you speak or act. Or that you're not as hot-headed as me. Or that you don't give up, no matter how tough things get. The list goes on but that should prove my point…"

"It's hard to believe…" Fíli said. Kíli sighed and hugged his brother closer. "That's one of your few faults, actually. If you could just believe in yourself a bit more. One day we will reclaim Erebor and Thorin's going to be king. And you will be king after him and you will be an amazing king. I believe in that. For me it's not something that might happen. It will happen. And you will be amazing."

"I have a lot of work to do then or I guess I'll disappoint you." "I don't think you will," Kíli said earnestly and cupped Fíli's cheek, turning his face so they were looking at each other, "You're my king already now. I'll always look up to you, no matter what happens, and I'll always be right by your side. I will always fight for you."

Fíli smiled at hearing Kíli's words and rubbed his nose against his brother's affectionately. "And you're sure you don't just say that to cheer me up now?" "No," Kíli replied at once, "I'm always honest with you, I'll never lie. I love you, khâzash." Fíli's smile grew even wider. "I love you, too, Kíli… What would I do without you?" "On average? You'd be in less trouble." Kíli grinned and Fíli chuckled. "Maybe," he agreed then, "But I'd also be a lot less happy."

_And as the world comes to an end  
I'll be here to hold your hand  
Cause you're my king and I'm your lionheart. _


End file.
